Basic hot weather survival skill
May 16th, 2009This is the hottest weekend I’ve ever seen in the Bay Area since I moved here last February. At high noon, I found myself on a sunny slope in Dolores Park BAKING in the 90+ degree sun with 10 other people, all of us trying to figure out what to do with our overheated selves.
“It’s soooooo hot.”
“What else would you do on a day like this in SF? Can’t waste it. Anyway, it’s hot inside, and it’s hot outside, so now what?”
Nearby, another group had fashioned a makeshift slip and slide out of hefty bags down the whole length of the hill. We jealously watched as, one by one, they slipped and slid down the cool, wet slide, flopping over one another at the bottom. Then, I suggested what any right-minded Chicagoan (or Midwesterner, even) would:
“Let’s go see a movie!”
“What? Why would we do that??”
“AIR. CONDITIONING.”
“Ohhhhh… but nah.”
“What? It’s hot!”
“Let’s walk to the Marina, maybe it’s cooler there.”
I ditched the group and went off to Ritual, where I had an iced chai and an extra tall glass of ice. Holy crap, did that feel better. I then proceeded to have the most productive 2.5 hours of design work I’ve had in a while. (I brought my laptop, as I suspected I would want to retreat to a cooler place where I would have an opportunity to do work—score.) Later, when I told my fellow Chicagoan friend about my afternoon, she said, “Clearly these people are so inexperienced as to not have basic hot weather survival skills.”
And then she said, “I was contemplating going for a run, but it is TOO HOT. Movie?”
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